Darts is a form of throwing game in which small missiles are
thrown at a circular target fixed to a
wall. Though various boards and rules have been used in the past, the term
"darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a
specific board design and set of rules. As well as being a professional
competitive sport, darts is a traditional pub game, commonly played in the
United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium,
Republic of Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, the United States, and
elsewhere.
Equipment
Dartboard
Darts were historically used in warfare in ancient history;
skirmishers used darts of varying sizes, similar to miniature javelins. It was
the practice of this skill that developed into a game of skill.
Before the First World War, pubs in the United Kingdom had
dartboards made from solid blocks of wood, usually elm. They had to be soaked
overnight to heal the holes made by the darts, and it was a messy business for
the publican, although darts was a popular game. This changed when a company
called Nodor, whose primary business was making modelling clay, started
producing clay dartboards in 1923. The clay dartboards never caught on, and
Nodor switched to making the traditional elm dartboards that were popular at
the time. Their model of dartboard was not a great success until someone came
up with the idea of using the century plant to make a dartboard. Small bundles
of sisal fibres of the same length were bundled together. The bundles were then
compressed into a disk and bound with a metal ring. It was an instant success,
as the darts did little or no damage to the board—they just parted the fibres
when they entered the board; this type of board was more durable and required
little maintenance.
Quality dartboards are made of sisal fibres; less expensive
boards are sometimes made of cork or coiled paper. However, several types of
sisal fibre are used in dartboards today, originating from East Africa, Brazil,
or China. Despite widespread belief that some dartboards are constructed using
pig bristles, camel hair, or horse hair, there is no evidence that boards have
ever been produced commercially from these materials.
A regulation board is inches
in diameter and is divided into 20 radial sections. Each section is
separated with metal wire or a thin band of sheet metal. The best dartboards
have the thinnest wire, so that the darts have less chance of hitting a wire
and bouncing out. The numbers indicating the various scoring sections of the
board are also normally made of wire, especially on tournament-quality boards.
The wire ring on which the numbers are welded can be turned to facilitate even
wear of the board. Boards of lesser quality often have the numbers printed
directly on the board.
Recently, some companies have produced electronic
dartboards. These dartboards have electronic scoring computers that are
preprogrammed with a wide variety of game types. The board is made of plastic
facings with small holes. The holes slant out, allowing the plastic-tipped
darts to stick inside. When a dart strikes the board, the section makes contact
with a metal plate, telling the computer where the player has thrown.
History
The dartboard may have its origins in the cross-section of a
tree. An old name for a dartboard is "butt"; the word comes from the
French word but, meaning "target". In particular, the Yorkshire and
Manchester Log End boards differ from the standard board in that they have no
treble, only double and bullseye, the Manchester board being of a smaller
diameter, with a playing area of only 25 cm across with double and bull areas
measuring just 4 mm. The London Fives board is another variation. This has only
12 equal segments numbered 20, 5, 15, 10, 20, 5, 15, 10, 20, 5, 15, 10 with the
doubles and triples being a quarter of an inch wide.
There is a speculation that the game originated among
soldiers throwing short arrows at the bottom of the cask or at the bottom of
trunks of trees. As the wood dried, cracks would develop, creating
"sections". Soon, regional standards emerged and many woodworkers supplemented
bar tabs by fabricating dart boards for the local pubs.
The standard numbering plan with a 20 on top was created in
1896 by Lancashire carpenter Brian Gamlin. However, a great many other
configurations have been used throughout the years and in different geographical
locations. Gamlin's layout was devised to penalise inaccuracy. Although this
applies to most of the board, the left-hand side is preferred by beginners, for its
concentration of larger numbers. Mathematically, removing the rotational
symmetry by placing the "20" at the top, there are 19!, or
121,645,100,408,832,000 possible dartboards. Many different layouts would
penalise a player more than the current setup; however, the current setup
actually does the job rather efficiently. There have been several mathematical
papers published that consider the "optimal" dartboard.
Dartboard illumination
Illumination should be arranged to brightly illuminate the
dartboard and minimize shadows of thrown darts.
The main supply for the illumination should be protected
against accidental piercing, or placed away from the board.
Darts
Initially the missiles were simply cut down arrows or
crossbow bolts. The first purpose made darts were manufactured in one piece
from wood; wrapped with a strip of lead for weight and fitted with flights made
from split turkey feathers. These darts were mainly imported from France and
became known as French darts. Metal barrels were patented in 1906 but wood
continued to be used into the 1950s.
The first metal barrels were made from brass which was
relatively cheap and easy to work. The wooden shafts, which were now threaded
to fit the tapped barrel, were either fletched as before or designed to take a
paper flight. This type of dart continued to be used into the 1970s.
Modern darts have four parts: The points, the barrels, the
shafts and the fletching The steel points come in 2 common lengths, 32mm and
41mm and are sometimes knurled or coated to improve grip. Others are designed
to retract slightly on impact to lessen the chance of bouncing out.
The barrels come in a variety of weights and are usually
constructed from brass, silver-nickel, or a tungsten alloy. Brass is cheap but
light and therefore brass barrels tend to be very bulky. Tungsten on the other
hand, is twice as dense as brass thus a barrel of an equivalent weight could be
thirty percent smaller in diameter. Tungsten is very brittle however and so an
alloy of between 80 and 95 per cent tungsten is used. The remainder is usually
nickel, iron, or copper. Cylindrical barrels are the same diameter along their
entire length and so tend to be long and thin. Their slenderness makes them
better for grouping but because they are long, the centre of gravity is further
back. Ton shaped barrels are thin at either end but bulge in the middle. This
makes them fatter than a cylindrical barrel of equivalent weight but the centre
of gravity is further forward and so theoretically easier to throw. Torpedo
shaped barrels are widest at the point end and taper towards the rear. This
keeps the weight as far forward as possible but like the ton, gives it a larger
diameter than the cylinder.
The shafts are manufactured in various lengths and some are
designed to be cut to length. Shafts are generally made from plastics, nylon
polymers, or metals such as aluminium and titanium; and can be rigid or
flexible. Longer shafts provide greater stability and allow a reduction in
flight size which in turn can lead to closer grouping; but they also shift the
weight towards the rear causing the dart to tilt backwards during
flight,requiring a harder,faster throw. A longer shaft will however make the
dart less responsive and increase the chance of "wobbling".
The primary purpose of the flight is to produce drag and
thus prevent the rear of the dart overtaking the point. One make of this board
was the Harrows Quadro 240.
Skill level and aiming
Assuming standard scoring, the optimal area to aim for on
the dart board in order to maximize the player's score varies significantly
based on the players skill. The skilled player should aim for the centre of the
T20 and as the player's skill reduces their aim moves slightly up and to the
left of the T20. At σ 16.4 mm the best
place to aim jumps to the T19.
Part Two coming soon...
Tipster Street.
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